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January 15, 2013

Francona Hits Back At Sox Owners - Book Excerpts

Sports Illustrated will be (or already is) is running an excerpt from Terry Francona's book Francona: The Red Sox Years (written with Dan Shaughnessy). In the article - "Too Big to Succeed" - Tito faults the current Red Sox ownership group for spending too much time on the team's public image.

Our owners in Boston, they've been owners for 10 years. They come in with all these ideas about baseball, but I don't think they love baseball. I think they like baseball. It's revenue, and I know that's their right and their interest because they're owners — and they're good owners. But they don't love the game. It's still more of a toy or a hobby for them. It's not their blood. They're going to come in and out of baseball. It's different for me. Baseball is my life.

Theo Epstein is quoted as saying:

They told us we didn't have any marketable players, that we needed some sizzle. We need some sexy guys. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. This is like an absurdist comedy. We'd become too big. It was the farthest thing from what we set out to be. [That] was evidence to me of the inherent tension between building a baseball operation the way I thought was best and the realities of being in a big market ... which had gotten bigger than any of us could handle.

During one meeting, Tom Werner

talked about slumping television ratings and whined, "We need to start winning in more exciting fashion."

Francona:

One thing the players were always asking for was getaway day games. The owners would never go for it. They couldn't have more day games because the ratings were already suffering, and that would have hurt worse.

I love Tito but he was given a team that was one out away from the world series, and they added some decent talent. And the year he left he was one game from the playoffs. To call out the owners is sour grapes, in my opinion.

I under stand , for some reason, he has to sell books. But this ownership gave us something we wanted for years and to piss on it , just isnt right.

I consider that whole 2004 group , owners, players, managers, and all the coaches as sacred. I understand he is talking about more about the latter years, but still, they gave him a chance. When no one else would.

I was gonna say what 9casey said--when we got new ownership, I don't remember anyone saying "what I really want is owners who really love baseball." They got Tito, and they won, and they won again.

As for the getaway day line: It was 2006 when Tito said he wanted more weekday afternoon games, and after that season, the FO made a point to have more in '07, noting it in their press releases and in the letter I got as a season ticket holder (though he said the reason was because of the fans requesting more of them). So it's weird he'd say they "would never go for it." But maybe me meant later on or something.

The Werner thing--that dude isn't the biggest baseball man, but how could the line about winning in more exciting fashion NOT be tongue in cheek?

OF COURSE they're businessmen. But their business is not called "TV Ratings". If your business is TV ratings, then create a TV show.

These men are in the business called baseball. As such, their job is to do everything possible to create a winning team, give their team every possible advantage, all the while knowing that a winning team will fill seats and create revenue. The winning comes first, the money follows. Their business is NOT to say "how can I make money" and then just hope the team also wins games.

You all know that! If we were reading this about NYY management, would Sox fans be so blithe, write it off with "they're businessmen"?

Also, if something is meant tongue in cheek, the writer must say so. Would CHB be so unprofessional as to portray joking/sarcastic words as serious?

"When Dan first approached me, I was like, ‘No. And not with you.’ He kind of came back to me and got me to agree to lunch, I don’t know how the hell he did that. Then one thing led to another and we planned a practice session, maybe one chapter. Next thing you know, we’re in New York selling it ... [W]hen I got to know him, I really liked him. We had a lot of fun. It was kind of cool. It was an eye-opener and it was an enjoyable process."

I wonder why Tito didn't go with Michael Holley again (Red Sox Rule-2008)? The choice of CHB obviously conjures up anticipation of some good ol' mud-slinging. Tito ain't dumb. I still hope for an exact account of who actually eye (and ear) -witnessed the Manny-McCormick incident so we can figure out how it spiraled out of control. I suspect after I read my pre-ordered copy I'll still be hoping. Tito is still my boy (and Manny my man), but I don't think I'll ever see anything like that 7-20 September again. That was some bad baseball (and luck).

I'd call 'Red Sox Rule' an easy, straight-forward read, good background on Tito's growing up, early career etc. Nobody has an agenda. Seemed like he and Holley got along. I'd add it to a Red Sox collection.

When they signed those "sexy" guys everyone thought they would win 100 games. They had the money and they spent it. It just didn't work out. There is now way at the time Tito would have ever thought that Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez would be his downfall, no friggin way.

He managed a team with Manny, Pedro, Curt and Millar. Some of the biggest personalites to ever play the game. Crawford and the others should have never been a problem. If there was the only thing I can think of was that thye had no personality.